New-Indigenes
New-Indigenes – A term coined by Jenny Blain and Robert Wallis to refer to emerging identities in Great Britain (and elsewhere, e.g., in North America) among contemporary Pagans and other new nature, earth, and alternative religions. Acting as individuals and/or “neo-tribes,” new-indigenes identify themselves as intrinsically linked to the living, animistic landscapes in which they live and take heed of those indigenous voices (particularly Native Americans) who suggest that rather than appropriate their traditions, neoshamans should re-embed their spirituality in their own “native” land. New-indigenes tend to be polytheistic and animistic, engaging in their daily lives with a diversity of other-than-human persons who are perceived as active agents in their own right rather than as spirits separate from matter. New-indigenes live in landscapes which themselves have intrinsic agentic properties—are “living”—and are not simply palimpsests cultured by human acts. Some new-indigenes are proactive in protest culture where roads and other building projects threaten woodland, derelict land, and other havens for otherthanhuman people. Many Pagans in particular establish relationships with their local “sacred sites,” which may require campaigning for access to them on auspicious occasions (notably, Stonehenge), as well as claiming a say in their management.
SOURCE:
Historical Dictionary of Shamanism by Graham Harvey and Robert J. Wallis 2007
